Turkey has deployed armored vehicles to the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa on Saturday ahead of upcoming ground patrols that will be conducted with the U.S forces on Sunday to establish a safe zone in northern Syria, east of the Euphrates River.
A convoy of about 15 military vehicles have arrived in the Akçakale district, according to reports.
On Aug. 7, Turkish and U.S. military officials agreed to set up a safe zone in northern Syria and develop a peace corridor to facilitate the movement of displaced Syrians who want to return home. They also agreed to establish a joint operations center.
A six-member U.S. team arrived in Turkey’s southeast on Aug. 12 in preparations for the center.
The agreement also envisaged setting up necessary security measures to address Turkey's security concerns, including clearing the zone of the terrorist YPG/PKK, a group the U.S. has sometimes been allied with, over Turkey’s objections.
The YPG/PKK is the Syrian offshoot of the PKK terror group, which for more than 30 years has been responsible for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people in Turkey, including many children, women, and infants.
